If you trap the moment before it's ripe,
The tears of repentance you'll certainly wipe;
But if once you let the ripe moment go
You can never wipe off the tears of woe.

William Blake

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More information about this quote

Topic

Missed opportunities Timing

Author

William Blake

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1792 1790s 18th century

Occupation

Artist Poet Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Blake, William. Poem written in his notebook. c. 1792.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "If you trap the moment before its ripe." William Blake: Selected Poems, edited by Nicholas Shrimpton. Oxford University Press, 2019.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by William Blake about missed opportunities: “If you trap the moment before it's ripe, The tears of repentance…”
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A quote by William Blake about missed opportunities: “If you trap the moment before it's ripe, The tears of repentance…”
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A quote by William Blake about missed opportunities: “If you trap the moment before it's ripe, The tears of repentance…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by William Blake

Everything that lives,
Lives not alone, nor for itself.

William Blake

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More information about this quote
Topic
Interconnectedness of all things Nature of life Life

Author

William Blake
Source
The Book of Thel
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1789 1780s 18th century
Authentication Score 1
Original Citation

Blake, William. The Book of Thel. London, c. 1789.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "The Book of Thel." Blake: Poems, edited by Peter Washington. Everyman's Library, 1994.

Another quote from the 1790s

You will laugh when you learn that I thought nothing of deceiving idiots, scoundrels and fools when I needed to do so. As for my deceptions of women, these are not of the sort to be tallied, since when love has a hand in things, each party usually dupes the other.

Giacomo Casanova

Histoire de Ma Vie

More information about this quote
Topic
Men and women Deception

Author

Giacomo Casanova
Source
Histoire de Ma Vie
Genre
Autobiography and memoir
Language
French
Time
1791 1790s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Casanova, Giacomo. Aus den Memoiren des Venetianers Jacob Casanova de Seingalt [From the Memoirs of the Venetian Jacob Casanova de Seingalt]. Vol. 1, Leipzig: Brodhaus, 1822, preface.

Current Citation

Casanova, Giacomo. History of My Life, vols. 1-2, translated by Willard R. Trask. Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966.